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As institutions prepare to formulate learning and teaching strategies which include widening participation for the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), it seems appropriate to reflect on whether or not the mainstreaming exercise has actually facilitated the widening of participation in the former Responsible Body institutions. This paper examines the background to the mainstreaming of continuing education (CE). The CE review was part of a package of measures to assist the development of greater flexibility in higher education and the increase in numbers of students on degree or award bearing courses. Almost five years on and in the light of an emerging definition of widening participation, student records and practice in two institutions in the old Liberal Adult Education (LAE) sector are analysed with a view to establishing whether the profile of the mainstreamed Responsible Body programs can provide a basis for an institution to claim widening participation. The conclusion is that the data do not support such a claim.